San Diego County

San Diego Parks & Gardens

San Diego’s public spaces range from the 1,200-acre Balboa Park, home to Spanish Colonial architecture and world-class museums, to the coastal bluffs of Sunset Cliffs. The city features specialized botanical sites like the historic Botanical Building and the Japanese Friendship Garden. Cultural heritage is preserved through the murals of Chicano Park, while Mission Bay offers extensive saltwater recreation. Downtown, Embarcadero Marina Park and Horton Plaza provide urban green space along the harbor and within the city center.

San Diego Parks & Gardens — Map

Leandro Neumann Ciuffo / CC BY 2.0

A

Balboa Park

Historic 1,200-acre urban park featuring museums, gardens, theaters, and the San Diego Zoo. Known for its Spanish Colonial Revival and Mediterranean Revival architecture and cultural attractions.

Philkon (Phil Konstantin) / CC BY-SA 3.0

B

Mission Bay Park

Mission Bay is an artificial, saltwater bay located south of the Pacific Beach community of San Diego, California created from…

C

Sunset Cliffs Natural Park

A 68-acre coastal park featuring dramatic sandstone cliffs, sea caves, and tide pools along the Pacific Ocean. The site includes walking trails with panoramic views of the coastline.

jimmyweee / CC BY 2.0

D

Embarcadero Marina Park South

The Embarcadero in San Diego, California is the area along the San Diego harbor on the east side of San Diego Bay. "Embarcadero" is a…

Sapan Patel / CC0

E

La Jolla Shores Beach

La Jolla Shores, with its northern part Scripps Beach, is a beach and vacation/residential community of the same name in La Jolla, San…

bcgrote / CC BY-SA 2.0

F

Horton Plaza Park

Horton Plaza Park is an outdoor venue located in the heart of downtown San Diego, which had its grand opening on May 4, 2016.

Rpotance / CC BY-SA 4.0

G

Chicano Park

Chicano Park is a 32,000 square meter park located beneath the San Diego–Coronado Bridge in Barrio Logan, a predominantly Chicano or…

Bernard Gagnon / CC BY-SA 3.0

H

Botanical Building

Situated in Balboa Park, this botanical building and the adjacent lily pond is one of the most photographed scenery in the park.

Visitor7 / CC BY-SA 3.0

I

Zoro Garden

Zoro Garden is a 6-acre sunken garden within Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It is located between the Reuben H.

J

Japanese Friendship Garden

Located in Balboa Park, this garden features koi ponds, stone arrangements, a bonsai collection, and traditional sukiya-style buildings. It represents the friendship between San Diego and its sister city, Yokohama.

K

Spreckels Park

A nice park with restrooms and playgrounds for all age groups, also suitable for picnics.

L

Bennington Monument

A 60-foot granite obelisk located within Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. It commemorates the 66 sailors killed in the 1905 boiler explosion aboard the USS Bennington in San Diego Bay.